Westbrook doesn’t need to shoot less; he needs to shoot better

That didn’t take long. One loss, Oklahoma City’s first home loss of the playoffs, was enough to point fingers at Russell Westbrook again.

This was automatic, as we mentioned Thursday. The NBA story lines are set. If the Thunder loses, it’s Westbrook’s fault.

The Thunder, of course, do not think this way, particularly with the series tied 1-1 and with the knowledge that without Westbrook, the Thunder are nowhere near the championship. But it is an easy argument.

“Westbrook shoots too much.”

“He is not much of a playmaker.” “”

“Kevin Durant is perfect so in the need to blame someone, blame Westbrook.”

No one argues that Westbrook is a finished product as a point guard. He is still evolving, having not played the point until he reached the NBA. He is getting better at taking care of the ball. But the point that always seems to be overlooked is that the Thunder need him to be a scorer. That’s how they were built. He is the second scorer putting up numbers next to Durant. That’s his job. And by the way, traditional point guards almost never win championships, at least not lately. Rajon Rondo did, while Magic is unique (in a category all his own) so he doesn’t count.

The laziest analysis is based on counting shot attempts, ignoring how and when those shots were taken. Often, Westbrook is the guy forced to get a shot, any shot, to beat the shot clock buzzer. Sometimes (more last season than now) Durant becomes passive outside the offense, an issue Scott Brooks addresses as often as he works with Westbrook to be a more judicious decision-maker. On Thursday, there were the usual shouts about Westbrook taking four more shots than Durant, ignoring that he played 14 more minutes.

Westbrook needs to be his best his way. If he tries to be John Stockton, he will fail and the Thunder will lose. He just needs to do this his way better. He made 2 of 10 shots to start Thursday’s game. The Thunder fell behind 18-2 and spent the rest of the night giving chase.

Westbrook could take a few fewer shots, but the issue isn’t really about how often he shoots, but how well. Do that and the series could shift to the even more baseless practice of blaming LeBron James.